Graystripe's Story
by Sparkle-Chan
Summary: Wondering what's taking Graystripe so long to get back to ThunderClan? Me too, so here's my reasoning.
1. Chapter 1

He gazed out the monster's clear sides longingly, watching Squirrelpaw give a yowl of alarm. Yet none of the cats came after him as the monster sped away, and his amber gaze followed the woods as they slowly disappeared behind him.

Farther up at the construction site, the monster came to a halt, and the gray tom felt himself almost fall down as it stopped quickly. A hole opened up on the monster's side, and the Twoleg stepped out of the monster's belly. The tom prepared to make a leap for the exit, but the hole quickly closed, leaving him trapped in the monster's belly.

He pressed his face against the window and watched the forest for signs of ThunderClan. He hoped the others had all gotten away all right, and that the Twolegs had not headed into the woods to look for him. It was sunhigh, but he couldn't feel the fiery light warming his furry pelt. The air inside the monster was very cold, which disturbed him. Was cutting down his forest and ruining WindClan's moors and destroying ShadowClan's marshy wetlands so tiring that the Twolegs needed their monsters to cool them off? RiverClan was the only clan that had not been bothered, as far as he knew. The air outside was most likely warmer than it was in the monster despite the crisp leaf-fall. The tom let out an exhausted sigh and looked around the Twolegs campsite.

There were large tree-eaters, and earth-crushers everywhere, with monsters in every which location they could fit. There were small huts where the Twolegs were obviously staying. The Twoleg that had been in the monster with him was talking to some other Twolegs, glancing back at him all too often.

He sighed and curled into a ball, hope starting to die within him. He closed his amber eyes, pleading StarClan to either let him out, or take him.

He was close to falling asleep, when he was interrupted by the noisy footsteps of Twolegs. The Twoleg that had brought the monster here was returning with other Twolegs behind him. And one was carrying a collar.

They came up to the spot where the hole had first opened, and he instinctively sprang to his paws. He waited, tense as the hole opened up again. The Twoleg with the collar reached out towards him and he swung a powerful claw at the Twoleg. It yowled in agony, but forced the collar over his neck. The gray tom made a choking noise as the collar slipped over his throat and pounced at the Twoleg, claws unsheathed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another Twoleg pressed a button, and he felt a surge of electricity tear through him. This knocked away his concentration and he missed his target, landing in the front of the monster with a heavy thud. Pain laced his muscles, leaving him stunned with shock. No warrior could harness a move like that but a warrior of StarClan! And this Twoleg had done it!

Unable to move, he felt the Twoleg lift him up and slid him into a cage. The cold web was uncomfortable against his paws and he yowled his annoyance. The Twoleg kicked his cage, and sent the cat tumbling into the back of the web.

He shuddered as the monster took off again, faster, and knocked him into the front of the cage, cold metal bars hitting him hard. He finally regained the ability to move, and dug his claws through the web to keep his grip.


	2. Chapter 2

As the monster rumbled on through the day hours, Graystripe found himself staring into the sky more often. If only he could still see Silverpelt, maybe he could have some hope that they could help him. He let out a sigh and shut his eyes. Though this was uncomfortable, he was too exhausted not to sleep.

Graystripe woke in another strange web, but the web was stacked on another web. And beneath it was another web. Graystripe sighed. A Twoleg walked by and Graystripe pushed himself in the corner of his cage as it stuck its arm in to put down some rat pellets. It turned and aimed towards him, making clicking noises with its tongue. Graystripe hissed and swatted him unsheathed paw at it, and the Twoleg quickly withdrew and closed the door. After a while of repeating the gesture with the other cages, the Twoleg left.

"Hey, Fresh-meat, you gonna eat those?" Graystripe knew by the tone it was a rouge. He decided not to respond.

"Hey, if you're not gonna eat those, give 'em to me, would'ya?"

Graystripe hissed.

"Guys, shut up!" It was a she-cat's voice. He turned and looked at the she-cat. Brown tabby, with white paws… Graystripe could remember the cat, but he couldn't place it…

He shut his eyes to think. "Princess!"

The tabby looked up. "Me? Yeah. How do you know me?"

Graystripe pressed his face against the web. "I'm Firestar's friend, Graystripe!"

"Firestar's friend! How is he? How's Cloudtail?"

"Firestar and Cloudtail are both fathers now. Firestar's kits are Squirrelpaw and Leafpaw. Cloudtail's is Whitepaw." Graystripe didn't know that Firestar's kits had their warrior names by now.

Princess smiled, "How'd you get in here?"

"I fought off some Twolegs and freed some of my clan cats, some from other clans too, and some rouges. And a kittypet. Cody. Cloudtail and Brightheart were trapped in there. They're fine now though." Graystripe sadly didn't know that for a fact, but there was no reason to make the only cat he knew here miserable. "And you?"

"I wondered to far from my home. I still have my collar. My Twolegs will be coming to pick me up soon," Princess meowed.

"Oh," Graystripe sighed.

"Listen," Princess started, "Try to act friendly to the Twoleg kits. They'll get you adopted sooner."

"Why would I want to be abopted?" He meowed stubbornly.

"Because otherwise the Twolegs here will kill you!"

Graystripe felt his breath catch in his throat and coughed. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Princess, have you seen Cody since she got free."

Princess nodded. "Yes, I have. Why?"

"I don't know, she was pretty friendly with Leafpaw. Does she know anything about my clan?"

"She said something about mountains."

Graystripe's pelt bristled and he gazed down at his paws. The mountains. That's where his daughter had died… "Is that where my clan is going?"

A Twoleg walked in and grabbed Princess out of her cage, and Graystripe sensed her fear. Then she was handed to another Twoleg, and her fur lay flat. "I think so!" She called over her twoleg's shoulder.

Graystripe let out a sigh and sat in the back corner once more until he fell asleep once more


End file.
